NJPW “DESTRUCTION in HIROSHIMA” Results & Review

NJPW “DESTRUCTION in HIROSHIMA

1) Togi Makabe & “Bullet Club Hunters” Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan vs. Ricochet & “TenCozy” Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima.
Matt was supposed to be in this match as well, but due to traveling issues he couldn’t make it to the show today.
⚫ Fun opener, that saw Kojima score the win for his team (8:20), when he pinned Captain NJ following a Lariat.
Note: The Captain/Hunter Club poll ends tomorrow. “Leave” is still in the lead.

2) Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask IV vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, David Finlay Jr. & “reDRagon” Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish.
⚫ What started off as somewhat of a comedic match, changed quickly when Fish & O’Reilly decided to turn up the volume. Nakanishi ate the floor after he missed a Splash to the outside, Honma got his butt kicked and an effortless save by Tiger Mask IV resulted in O’Reilly winning (8:45). He pinned Tiger following the Chasing The Dragon.

4) “CHAOS” Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs. “Bullet Club” Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens.
⚫ Pretty solid match, with Owens getting more impressive with every appearance in New Japan, this guy is really talented. Unluckily for him, he had to take the fall. Yujiro’s highlight was coming to the ring. With latex-cled Playboy bunnies, that is.
Oh well, team CHAOS secured the win here, when Goto pinned Owens (8:39) following the GTR. It’s been said, that they’re grooming Goto/Ishii as a team for the upcoming World Tag League in November.

5) Special 8-Man Tag Team match: IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson & KUSHIDA vs. “Los Ingobernables de Japón” IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & EVIL.
⚫ Michael Elgin had be taken to the back in the beginning of the match, after L.I.J assaulted him and attacked his already sore knee. However, he would return later on, all taped up, ruthlessly taking everyone out in sight. L.I.J ganged up on him again, but Elgin fought back, pinning EVIL (12:38) in the process, following the Elgin Bomb.
While BUSHI and KUSHIDA brawled outside the ring after the match, Elgin hit another Elgin Bomb, this time on Naito, as a prelude to what’s to come in this Sunday’s IC Title match.

6) IWGP World Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: “The Briscoes” Jay & Mark Briscoe (c) vs. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions “Young Bucks” Matt & Nick Jackson.
⚫ This match was very good. The Bucks showed more of their serious side here and it really benefited to the story. This match was well told and both teams shined, pulling out all the stops and performing most of their trademark moves. Must see match.The end came when Jay pinned Matt (15:02) following the Doomsday Device, thus retaining the IWGP tag straps.
After the match Tama Tonga and his brother came out and attacked The Briscoes, demanding their rematch for the titles.

7) ROH World Championship match: Adam Cole (c) vs. Will Ospreay.
⚫ This was a good match, but it wasn’t great. Despite all the hype beforehand, they didn’t really seem to gel, probably because of their differences in styles.
The crowd was pretty dead for this match as well, which didn’t help either.
Adam Cole retained the ROH Title, when Ospreay missed a Springboard Cutter, Cole Super Kicked his leg, hit the Panama Sunrise and followed it up with the Last Shot (12:17) for the win.

8) Special Singles match – Fale’s future IWGP Title shot on the line: IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Bad Luck Fale.
⚫ This was Okada’s revenge match for his loss to Fale during the G1, as well as Fale having a lot at stake too. The match was marked by a lot of interference by Takahashi, who was at ringside. However, Okada overcame the odds like the true champ that he is, as he pinned the Underboss (17:03) after a Tombstone, followed by the Rainmaker.
Okada’s next challenge comes in the form of NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji, as they will do battle over the IWGP Title at the 10/10 “King of Pro Wrestling” PPV.

9) Tokyo Dome IWGP World Heavyweight Challenge Rights match: Kenny Omega (rights holder) vs. YOSHI-HASHI.
⚫ This was everything it was promised to be beforehand. An excellent match from both guys, with loads of action. Although there was little to no doubt, that Omega would lose his WK11 guaranteed IWGP title shot here today, the rising star of HASHI was elevated again. He showed intense determination, guts and heart, but Omega just overcame that, as he pinned the Headhunter for the win (24:44) following the One Winged Angel.
Afterwards, Hirooki Goto (who was at ringside) stepped up as the next challenger to the Omega’s briefcase, wanting a re-match after losing the G1 Climax Finals to The Cleaner.